Being ripped off by dealers

[Ordinary Person]

I own a few tractors but my New Holland, ancient TC48DA, burnt out its starter motor... or, more accurately, I over-cooked things.

Two things are relevant here... 1. I had issues about 3 years ago & "determined" the starter was at fault, bought a new one but kept the old, for no particular reason.

2. Today, with a definitely burnt out starter, I looked for a replacement & on eBay it's $108 & a few cents.... from New Holland dealer it's $542 & a few cents, but, being a scrooge & having the old starter available, I installed it just for fun... & it cranked the engine!!! So it wasn't the problem back then & I couldn't prove it.

Back then 3 years ago... New Holland wanted a ton of cash for a replacement & it cost me $80 on eBay. I've just checked my buying history.

I don't want to sit & preach to anyone but buying from main dealers is a complete rip-off. Just beware & think before you buy.

 

[grsthegreat]

All depends. Some of the starters i tried to purchase on ebay never laster a year. All some kind of chinese knockoff. With all the effort to replace starter, id rather purchase an OEM unit.

i also tried purchasing a brand new Norelco replacement head for my electric shaver. Looked exactly like original, even packaging looked the same as at drug store. Cost 25% of the store cost. It quite literally pulled the hairs out of my face. Returned to amazon, purchased a store bought one, and the unit was like new. Ive come to the conclusion that most stuff on ebay and amazon are ripped off Chinese copies.

 

[Eagle1]

Not really the dealer completely. Normal for most OEM:
Engineering - specs part.
Purchasing buys part from someone at $x. Sell part to factory at $x + profit lets say $2x
Machine is built and factory sells spare parts to dealer at $2x + profit lets day $4x
Dealer sells part to customer at $4x + profit somewhere $5x to $8x
Pretty much how everyone does it.
Now the cheap ones often figure out the original supplier and buy at their price $x then sell it $2x or $3x and you get a bargain. If you can buy from the supplier you can get it for close to $x.

BTW the dealer mostly incurs the highest cost and lowest profit margin along that chain.

I know some small engine shops that buy from ebay and amazon and charge based on the OEM prices. Increases their profit from 50% to 400% easy.

 

[sea2summit]

Rape is a pretty strong word. For one they have to pay a guy more than $15/hr to do the job. They have admin folks setting up the schedule with you, making sure the parts are available, and billing also probably more than $15/hr. They have a facility cost to store the parts, tools, equipment, shelter the maintenance area, and land for all of that probably not in an inexpensive part of the area probably valued in the millions of dollars. They have to pay taxes on the property and facilities. They have utilities costs for that huge structure, just multiply your utilities bill by 20 and that’s probably close. Insurance….don’t even get me started.

If you can get that part, have knowledge, time, and tools yes you can absolutely do it cheaper. Those folks probably aren’t making a ton of money off one repair, they need lots of volume to cover costs.

 

[seville009]

With the internet though, it’s pretty easy to search the part and find prices. Most dealers, in my experience, are not yoo far off from the lowest price i find on the internet.

I buy stuff on Amazon (general household supplies, etc) and it’s amazing how much of a difference in pricing there is for the same item. I don’t know jow many people actually buy the higher priced listed items.

Buyer beware…..,

 

[5030]

Never replaced a starter or alternator. I get them rebuilt. Most of that stuff today is Chineseum anyway.

 

[JasperFrank]

Since we get everything from China now, I can't get a good replacement part. A new alternator I got two years ago, has failed. That's $80 I will never get back, or the 2 hours it took to replace it. Supply chains don't care. The original, Japanese made alternator lasted 27 years. This is the future...

 

[5030]

Japanese made (Denso) is good stuff...if you can find it. Actually, some of the Chineseum stuff is good so long as they have oversight in production. No over sight means Amazon junk.

Good example are the pair of fuel polishing units I bought for my M9's. I could have bought genuine Raco for a hundred bucks a toss or a Chinese knock off for 30 bucks. Bought the Chinese knockoff but used genuine Raco spin on filters. The Chinese knock off base is identical in every way to the Raco. Work flawlessly and no way can you tell the difference. The Chinese are good at copying stuff but like I said, no oversight equals junk.

 

[claggstractors]

Since we get everything from China now, I can't get a good replacement part. A new alternator I got two years ago, has failed. That's $80 I will never get back, or the 2 hours it took to replace it. Supply chains don't care. The original, Japanese made alternator lasted 27 years. This is the future...

and this future sucks to be honest. Sometimes I spend an hour or two just searching out good quality bearings to rebuild stuff with instead of replacing it with Chinese junk.

 

[5030]

and this future sucks to be honest. Sometimes I spend an hour or two just searching out good quality bearings to rebuild stuff with instead of replacing it with Chinese junk.

I get all my replacement bearings from Detroit Bearing. They carry Timken as well as the FAG lines among others.